This week the Harbus interviews Steve Evans who hails from Bromley in SE London. For those of you who had trouble understanding such movie classics as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, this means he can understand the cockney rhyming slang prevalent in these films! After attending Gonville & Caius (pronounced ‘Keys’) College at Cambridge, Steve joined Bain before dabbling in a little politics. In case you don’t realize it from reading this interview, his favorite color is pink!
Fact File: Steve Eric ‘Metro’ Evans (NF)
Height: 6 feet
Weight: Heavy
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dirty Blonde
Marital Status: Single
Favorite Food: Sushi
Favorite Drink: Gin and Tonic
Favorite Film: The English Patient
Favorite Band: The Village People
Nickname: Metro (short for ‘Metrosexual’)
How Acquired Nickname: I wear a lot of pink and I like women’s clothes, hence I was labeled with the name metrosexual.
Harbus: Where did your love of pink clothes come from?
Steve Evans: I have always liked being in touch with my feminine side. I like to contrast my femininity with the masculinity of my muscular appearance and scruffy good looks.
Harbus: What HBS sports team do you play for?
SE: The rugby club.
Harbus: Is it hard being a ‘metrosexual’ in the rugby team?
SE: I get a lot of abuse for it. Although I like the contrast of being a pure metro with the aggressiveness of being a rugby player.
Harbus: To help us understand the term ‘metro’ could you tell us who your favorite ‘metro’ idols are?
SE: Hmmm. The list is so long…. There’s the entire French rugby team and of course my all-time bestest favorite – David Bowie. I also think Dan Gertsacov (OJ) is an up-and-coming metro.
Harbus: What position do you play?
SE: Hooker
Harbus: What does that involve?
SE: It means that I’m in the middle of a pack of sweaty men and am the playmaker of the forwards. I need to be tough, yet strategically aware.
Harbus: When did you start playing rugby? And why did you start playing it?
SE: At the age of 6. It was part of the curriculum at my school in England.
Harbus: What has been your best sporting moment on the field?
SE: That would be at Cambridge, when we were playing a tough South African side. They were hard as nails. We thought we would lose against such tough opposition, but finesse won the day for us.
Harbus: And your worst?
SE: When I got knocked out at school. It happened a couple of times. It’s just like boxing – as much as you expect to get hit in the ring, it’s never as much fun as you thought it would be.
Harbus: How about your best moment off the field?
SE: Miami tour. I particularly liked wearing my Harvard shirt and seeing the effect it had on the local girls and boys.
Harbus: And your worst?
SE: Watching bizarre (yet secret) rugby team rituals involving Charles Macdonald (OD).
Harbus: We hear you like wearing pink? Is there a reason for this?
SE: Pink is stereotyped as an effeminate color. Wearing pink lulls girls into a false sense of security. There’s an assumption that you’re non-threatening…
I also see myself as bringing masculinity to the color pink.
Harbus: So what is the biggest challenge about being an athlete at HBS?
SE: It’s hard to achieve the required fitness level whilst drinking and partying. I’ve also set myself the challenge of being the fittest person on the rugby team.
Harbus: What other sports have you played?
SE: Squash and soccer. Although I like the aggressive side of rugby.
Harbus: Do you have any advice for young athletes out there?
SE: Learn to harness and channel your aggression. And wear pink shorts and socks.
Harbus: How do you spend your free time?
SE: I like to read modern fiction and English poetry. I also like shopping at ZARA for pink clothing. Although I haven’t yet found a pink thong that fits me yet…
Harbus: On that note I think we’ll thank you for your time.
SE: Thank you gents.
